Reduce a Home Theater to Silence Resources

Resources

Products
A listing of products mentioned in the article.

Damping Compound
Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound (greengluecompany.com)

Insulation
Roxul, North American subsidiary of Rockwool International (roxul.com)

Isolation Bushings, Hat Channels, and Accessories
Kinetics Noise Control (kineticsnoise.com): IsoMax Resilient Sound Isolation Wall and Ceiling Clip, IsoBacker Acoustical Outlet Backer Putty Pad
Johnson Bros. Metal Forming Co. (johnsonrollforming.com): Hat Channels
PAC International (pac-intl.com): RSIC-1 Rubber Sound Isolation Clip

Mass-Loaded Vinyl Barrier
Mass-loaded vinyl barrier is sold under many different brand names
Acoustiblok (acoustiblok.com): Acoustiblok Soundproofing Material, available in ⅛- and ¼-inch thicknesses

Sound-Engineered Drywall
Soundproof panels are available from several companies but will likely be a special order item at Home Depot or Lowe’s.
National Gypsum (nationalgypsum.com): Gold Bond SoundBreak XP ½- and 5⁄8-inch Gypsum Board
Serious Energy (quietrock.com): QuietRock line of sound-damped panels, available in ½-, 5⁄8-, and 13⁄8-inch thicknesses
Supress (supressproducts.com): Sound Engineered Drywall (SED) in ½-, 5⁄8-, ¾-, and 1-inch thicknesses

Soundproof Flooring
Dura Undercushions Ltd. (duracushion.com): Duracoustic rubber matting

Sound Absorbing Supports
Mason Industries (mason-industries.com): Super W Pads, intended for industrial applications, but they make excellent speaker isolators

Additional Information
Acoustical Consultants and Contractors: Check local listings
American Institute of Architects (AIA) (aia.org)
Acoustical Society of America (ASA) (acousticalsociety.org)
Acoustical Solutions, Inc. (acousticalsolutions.com)
Super Soundproofing Co. (soundproofing.org)

Comments

What About the Entry Door?

Submitted by michaelalanlitt... on September 27, 2012 - 1:12pm.

Cool article! What about the entry door to the room? A standard interior door is going to let out a bunch of sound from the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Do you add a soundproof entry door?

Entry door...

Submitted by Rob Sabin on September 27, 2012 - 4:21pm.

Good question. I'm not a soundproofing expert per se but I've seen how this gets handled in a lot of serious theater installs, and it's often done with a combination of a heavy soundproof door that's VERY tight to the frame and often sealed, and it will typically have a raised threshold on the bottom. Any air leak at all in the room will result in sound escaping. When I worked for another publication, we built two soundproof testing rooms into an office building suite in midtown Manhattan. Both had raised floors with fully decoupled walls and ceiling, and the doors were heavy metal insulated doors with metal frames. They would not swing fully closed naturally -- beyond a certain point you had to slam them shut to account for the resistance from the seals.

If anyone out there has anything to add, feel free to jump in.

Doors

Submitted by David Vaughn on September 27, 2012 - 7:59pm.

Rob, you are correct on the doors. They need to be solid construction with a tight seal. If air gets out, so does sound.

Doors

Submitted by trynberg on September 29, 2012 - 11:25am.

Installing a higher-end residential exterior-grade door is a good quality less expensive option. Otherwise you are looking at manufactured acoustical door systems at much higher cost.

Very informative. I had no

Submitted by Mreilly06 on February 20, 2013 - 12:16pm.

Very informative. I had no idea sound proofing took so much effort. Thanks! Reilly

good topic

Submitted by sunnyday on March 6, 2013 - 1:20am.

So the problem of bass being really loud in one seat and really quiet in another is eliminated, or substantially reduced, and you end up with a room that has tight, punchy bass just because the walls are not acting as strong reflectors. That’s a nice benefit. Thanks！ kmec

Soundproofing for Commercial Spaces with high ceilings

Submitted by Nathan Smith on May 20, 2013 - 9:05am.

What some ways you can sound proof a commercial space with really high ceilings? I have had a few clients that had retail spaces with high ceilings who have issues with it being echoey. Thanks for the post! Nathan Smith